But not before Rocco gave him a small, wry smile. “Apple and tree and all that.”

“Yeah.”

“You going to invite him in?” Tyler called from somewhere in the house. “Or stand there staring at each other like a pair of idiots?”

Another flash of a wry smile from Rocco, who backed up to let Diego in.

They ended up in the kitchen at the table where Diego had spent years doing homework, eating them out of house and home, and learning to cook so they didn’t starve. The electric outlet by the toaster on the counter still had black smudge marks from the time he’d almost burned the house down making grilled cheese.

Tyler served them tea and then gave them both a kiss on top of their heads before he left the room.

“He means well,” Rocco said but rose. He pulled a bottle of brandy from a cupboard and dumped a liberal amount into both teas.

They sat across the table from each other, awkward. Silent. Tense.

“I came to apologize,” Diego said. For all those years of silence and resentment and—”

“Don’t. Don’t apologize, not to me.” Rocco pushed his untouched tea aside and took a swig straight from the brandy bottle. “I don’t deserve it. We both know I don’t. I deserted you, Diego.”

Diego drew in a deep breath. “Yeah. But after talking to Daisy, I realized I did the same thing to her that you did to me. And I had my reasons for it. They were even good ones. But I don’t want to be that guy. I’m sorry I was that guy.”

Rocco’s breath came out in a whoosh. “And I’m sorry I was a selfish dick. The fact that I always have been, isn’t an excuse, I know. But I regret like hell what I did.” He paused for another moment. When he finally went on, his voice was thick with emotion. “I’ve missed you, man.”

The words washed over Diego like a healing balm, and he nodded. “Missed you, too.”

Rocco stood and hauled Diego out of his chair as if he didn’t weigh anything and pulled him in for a bear hug. After a long moment, Rocco pushed back. “Wait a minute. If you just had that conversation with Daisy, then why the hell are you here with me? Why aren’t you guys making up for lost time?”

Diego shook his head and turned away.

“What does that mean?” Rocco asked Diego’s back. “I saw how you two looked at each other.”

“We’re not going there. I’m leaving right after the wedding.”

Rocco turned him around and stared at him as if Diego had lost his mind. “You can’t be serious.”

“Of course, I’m serious. I don’t live here anymore. I live in San Diego, where I’ve got a great job being in charge of a fleet of tourist boats. I also work once a week at a tattoo shop for a buddy of mine, so I get that fix, too. Everything’s good down there for me.” Or it had been until he’d come back here and realized how little he actually felt anymore—about anything. He’d felt more in the past few days here than he had in years.